The Guardian is carrying a report of a small Swiss study which indicates that sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis who adopt a vegan diet have a significant easing of symptoms.
Rheumatoid arthritis, caused by the body’s own immune system attacking the joints, is different from osteoarthritis, which is caused by an abnormal wearing of the joints. This involvement of the immune system leads me to speculate whether the absence of dairy products is the key factor in the vegan diet. A lot of people seem to be affected by dairy products with low-grade chronic symptoms which go undiagnosed.
We may never know more. The article quotes Prof Johan Frostegård saying that his study is too small to be conclusive and admitting that “There is no big money from the drug companies for these kind of studies.”
It is a sad state of affairs when exciting possible lines of study are ignored because there is no money to be made from them.
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All things well 